A sky-diving police officer from County Durham is using his specialist knowledge in the murder investigation of a 20-year-old Army cadet whose parachute was sabotaged.

Police found that cords on Stephen Hilder's parachute had been deliberately severed causing him to fall to his death in a jump at Hibaldstow Airfield in Lincolnshire on July 4.

PC Dave Mitchell, 43, a file-builder and disclosure officer at Consett Police was seconded to the Humberside Police murder inquiry team in Scunthorpe when it was found he was a British Parachute Association instructor with 20 years' jump experience.

PC Mitchell said: "I am finding that I am able to answer a lot of questions about the sport that officers were unclear about.

"Having a direct liaison between the detectives involved in the case and the parachuting environment is a great advantage to the enquiry."